Chapter 18: What Hides Beneath

  The winding mineshafts seemed to repeat endlessly. Even though they had been walking for hours, it seemed to Corin as if they had just been crossing the same stretch on a loop. The loop consisted of ragged rocks on either side, a narrow cramped tunnel, in which Nanaua could barely walk upright, a stagnant smell, and an unending eerie silence. Nothing he saw helped him differentiate this portion of the mine from the one they had crossed earlier. It was only their guide Svelti, one of the dwarves Simeon had befriended, who could tell what the correct path was and guide them through the unending maze.

  Eventually the group stopped for rest. The long trek through the narrow shafts was more tiring than Corin could have imagined. It did not help that his head still pounded.

  “The lengths of these mines is amazing. How many years have your village been working on them?” Livia asked.

  “Us dwarves have only been carving this mountainside for the past five years,” Svelti replied cooly.

  “You were able to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time?” Corin asked.

  They had walked enough distance to cover the distance between towns in Trinixo. Despite that, Corin saw many other paths they did not take, so he knew the area that had been mined underneath the mountains must truly be expansive.

  “It wasn’t us who carved the majority of these mines,” Svelti replied.

  The red-headed dwarf was an anomaly for Corin. Unlike other dwarves, this one had a clean-shaven face. He seemed around Corin’s age, but his eyes, bright green, seemed to belong to someone much older. He was leaner than other dwarves Corin had seen, which made him a lot faster than he expected. Svelti was also short with words and with his temper. Anytime any of them lagged he would start barking for them to hurry up. It usually was Zhi who would be lagging and who would be told to hurry.

  “If not you, then who?” Nanaua asked.

  Simeon, understanding the temperament of his host, began to answer on his behalf.

  “When I was talking to the dwarves yesterday—” Simeon began.

  “Is a mystery,” Svelti interjected.

  The group was astonished at the revelation.

  “A mystery?” Livia asked.

  “None knows who was digging or why. We’ve only been here about five years. Where we used to live, the same giant, Bron, had been lord for generations. Not long ago, another took his place. Their fight knocked down half our village. New giant don’t like us, so we left,” Svelti explained.

  That had been the most he had spoken thus far to the group. They were all enraptured at his story.

  “Took many years for us to find this place.”

  He stopped to take a bite of his stew.

  “But I know this tale might not sound strange to you. Your friend says your brother was killed in a titan clash and your village destroyed.” Svelti looked straight at Corin, who gnashed his teeth. He felt an intense rage at the mention of his brother, but this was nothing to do with the dwarf. He calmed himself down.

  “I know you are angry. We all are,” Svelti replied, noticing Corin’s reaction. “For generations, we thought we were safe. Others would be scared, but not us. We thought giants would never bother us. We were wrong. We’ve always been at the mercy of something that could destroy us when it wanted, but we didn’t want to think that was us. That’s why when us were looking for a new home, it had to help us defend against a giant.”

  “So you began to dig the mines?” Livia asked.

  “Right. We wanted to find a place to hide if another giant decided it don’t like us,” Svelti said. “Didn’t take long to find other tunnels here already. Still today we’ll find tunnels with no clue where they go. But that’s not all we’ve found.”

  “Have you found other furtives?” Corin asked.

  “If only. Then we might know what else is down here. Sometimes it’s a big troll or two. Not smart but dangerous. But there’s more. Things we don’t know of. It’s happened close to ten times that we’ve lost entire groups of miners. Sometimes, one or two will come back after being lost for months. They come back rambling, saying things about monsters in the mines.” Svelti went back to his stew.

  The group all stared at Svelti. Simeon seemed uneasy.

  “Simeon, did you know about this?” Corin asked the old ape-man.

  His face contorted. “What I know, based on the limited information I received, is that compared to the other routes available this one was the one with the least dangers. Besides, the stories some of those dwarves tell don’t add up. It’s probably some sort of psychosis that afflicts those who get lost within the mines. It’s nothing unheard of. Isolation makes the mind see and hear things that are not there.”

  “Things like what?” Zhi asked.

  “Some say they’ve seen creatures made of smoke. You start to notice wisps of it flooding the ground and then your torches go out. There are also those who claim they’ve seen dead dwarves roaming around the mines, their mouths dripping with blood. One even claimed they saw a titan underground,” Svelti replied.

  The group now all stared at Simeon, ready to protest. Simeon interjected before they could utter a word.

  “We have trained hunters on our trail. We know there are Zifors out there who will kill all of us if they get the chance. We don’t know any other road available that is not being watched. If you want to go back out there, we can, but know this was the fastest and safest way to get to Yranto.”

  “Simeon you should at least have conferred with us!” Livia said.

  “And decide on what?” He asked. “What exactly did you think we would face on our way to complete the artifact? We stole from Arandu, and he himself tried to destroy us! Did you think that since we were on Khorsor we were safe? The danger will never stop, not until we succeed or die!”

  Livia fumed. She wanted to say something, but she knew that Simeon was right. Silent, the rest of the group went back to their food. Corin had to force himself to eat. The revelation had lodged itself deep in his stomach and killed his appetite.

  “Let’s make haste. The last leg of our trip is coming,” Svelti said.

  “Are we almost done in the mines?” Nanaua asked, confused.

  “I am, but you and yours still have quite a ways to go,” Svelti replied.

  ***

  As promised, Svelti had led the group for another long trek of traveling before parting ways.

  “Us dwarves have etched the walls with a white circle. Keep on that same trail, and you will find yourselves on the other side of this mountain. Do not leave that trail.” Svelti cautioned the group and left them.

  “Alright, let’s cover some more ground before breaking for camp,” Simeon urged.

  The rest of the group all eyed him warily. They were still not happy with him.

  Simeon led in the front with a lit torch, followed by Zhi, Livia, Corin, and Nanaua, who acted as their rearguard.

  After Svelti’s story, they were all on edge. The smallest noise startled them. Corin thought he could hear breathing behind him. It turned out there was a small hole on the side of the wall where air would sometimes come out.

  They made sure that their footsteps were as quiet as they could be. Eyes darted from side to side. Corin could not help but see things moving out from the corners of his eyes.

  This fear infected all of them, even Simeon. Despite his attempts at portraying himself above believing any of the tall tales, he acted different than normal. Corin saw him wave his torch fast side to side twice, as if he something had just appeared in front him. He flinched at the sound of a loose pebble being kicked, quickly reaching for his dagger.

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  “Sorry,” Nanaua muttered.

  Corin saw the wide eyed Simeon slowly sheath the dagger.

  They continued for several hours before stopping at a small clearing.

  “We should make camp here,” Corin said quietly.

  The camp was built fast, without words being exchanged. They started a fire, set up their cots, ate, and settled into their rotations. Corin’s shift was first.

  He sat with his back to a wall. One hand wrapped around his blade, his pistol’s location etched into his mind. His eyes darted side to side, looking at both sides of the mine. The edges of the campfire’s light seemed to hold at bay tendrils of darkness that were hungry for the group. The darkness beyond the light was all-encompassing. Corin peered into it and saw nothing.

  Corin could barely hold his eyes open as his shift continued. The soft crackling of the fire, the rhythmic breathing of his wife. Little by little, they would drag him further into a state of dreams, the tiredness he had been carrying with him all day finally amassing to such an extent that he was unable to resist it.

  Corin’s eyes closed. He remembered a time when he and Cyril were returning back to their home as the sun rose. It had been a long hunt that day. Simeon had promised them they would return by midday. They returned long after the sun had set. He remembered coming back to his home feeling tired and crashing onto his bed. He had awoken to see his brother staring back at him. Cyril wanted to know if Corin would join him on his morning swim.

  Corin opened his eyes now. He looked to his right, down the mineshaft. In the deep darkness, it seemed as if something stared back at him. He saw reflections of the campfire shining from two dark, deep pools. They were at the very edges of the light. As soon as Corin noticed them, it seemed as if they vanished.

  Corin jumped up as he grabbed his blade, moving toward the reflection. He unsheathed and swung his blade side to side, expecting an attacker at any moment. He looked all around. There was nothing he heard, nothing he saw, nothing that came from the darkness.

  Did I imagine that?

  Corin gripped the hilt of the blade until he could no longer feel his hands.

  He was compelled to move toward the darkness. He needed to be sure there was no danger. Inching carefully. Blade held at the ready. He did not trust the darkness, but he had to be sure. If he even saw the slightest hint of movement, he would strike.

  I’m sure of it. I saw something.

  As he stepped closer to the darkness, his heart beat faster. The total darkness neared. Corin could only hear his own breathing and his heart beating. He felt as if the darkness awaited to ensnare him, to hold him captive in the deep chasms of the mines and never let him go. Yet he moved ahead. He could not stop himself.

  Corin faced the dividing line between the light and the darkness. He peered into it, expecting a response, but nothing came.

  Is there something there?

  Corin inched forward when a voice spoke to him softly.

  “Do not take one step further,” Simeon ordered.

  Corin turned to look back at Simeon. Suddenly, he felt the urge to get as far away as possible from the darkness.

  “Sorry,” Corin replied as he tried to play off what had occurred. He walked back to the camp and sat down.

  “Your shift is over. Go rest.”

  “What? No, I’m fine. I thought—” Corin began.

  “Go,” Simeon ordered.

  Simeon’s face bore the same stern look he had used whenever he told Cyril or Corin something they had to do. Simeon had been the only person who Cyril felt obliged to listen to. Corin knew there was no point in arguing.

  He went to his bedroll. His mind grappled with what had occurred. He did not know what he had seen, but he had felt its influence.

  Try as he might to distract his mind, the thoughts continued to pester him. But the day had been long, and Corin’s exhaustion won out in the end, finally leading him to a slumber.

  ***

  Corin awoke to find the rest of the group in several stages of preparedness. Livia had everything prepared to continue on their day. Simeon, although asleep, had all his belongings tidied up. Zhi was surprisingly almost done with her preparations, while Nanaua was still asleep.

  The moment they were all prepared to continue, they did so. They moved at a rapid pace.

  “If we continue this route, we should be on the other side of the mountain in one or two more days,” Simeon said.

  “What’s after that?” Zhi asked him.

  “The dwarves spoke of a town a short distance from the other side of these mountains, Hi’alol. From there the road to Yranto will be long but straightforward," Simeon replied.

  “What about titans? Were you warned of other giants we might encounter?” Zhi followed up.

  “Yes,” Simeon began

  “Not really a surprise, but do you have any other details?” Zhi asked.

  “The area right outside the mountain as we leave is home to the giant Bludse. He is known to sleep for long periods of time, and when he wakes he unleashes havoc,” Simeon said.

  “And?” Livia asked, feeling as if there was something missing.

  “Apparently Bludse has been asleep for quite some time now,” Simeon added.

  “Of course,” Zhi replied.

  “What about Yranto?” Corin followed up.

  “The dwarves did not know anything about a giant in that area. Yranto is quite far from here, and for the few that had been there, they never heard of such details,” Simeon said.

  The group continued along their way. While they were eager to leave the mines, what awaited them outside did not seem very safe either.

  On two different occasions, the group paused for a break, keeping them as brief as possible.

  As they moved down the mineshafts, they arrived at different junctions with multiple paths. As instructed, they continued the paths with painted white circles. Some of the other paths had different markings on them. A square, a cross, an arrow. Corin was curious where some of these may lead to, but after remembering the previous night, he felt less curiosity about them.

  The long shafts seemed to play tricks on Corin’s mind. He still felt as if they covered the same stretch of mine repeatedly. They would continue for a bit, find a junction, find where the white circle was, and follow that path. To him, it seemed as if every time they crossed the invisible threshold beyond the junction it would send them back a certain distance that they had already covered. This endless repetition took Corin’s mind out of the moment. He began to hum songs that he and Cyril would sing along their trips. He would tap his foot along to an inaudible beat, one that only he could hear.

  Corin led at the front of the group. As he continued his lead and tapping of his foot, he felt his foot hit a puddle.

  Splash!

  It was not too deep but splashed water everywhere.

  “Careful, there’s a puddle of water here,” Corin announced to the group.

  Splash!

  Corin took two steps and paused. The sound had come from the direction Corin faced, not from behind.

  “What is it?” Livia asked.

  “That was not me,” Corin said to Livia.

  “What do you mean?” Zhi asked.

  The group stopped behind Corin. Simeon and Nanaua moved up to see what was holding up Corin.

  Splash!

  They all stood perfectly still as they stared ahead of them toward the source of the noise.

  Corin held up his torch. Beyond the light, in the darkness, he saw two deep dark pools that reflected the light. This time, Corin went to it with his torch.

  As he approached it, the deep, dark pools coalesced around a small shape. In front of Corin stood a dwarf who stared at him as he approached.

  The dwarf did not react to Corin’s approach. His eyes focused straight on Corin, and his body did not move. For a moment, Corin was not sure if the dwarf was a statue.

  Corin looked back to the others, all of them stared at the dwarf.

  Nothing about the dwarf seemed amiss. He was of average height and build with long black hair and a long black beard. Yet his eyes would not blink, and they kept staring at Corin.

  Corin took several more steps toward the dwarf. When he was just outside of his blade’s reach, Corin stopped.

  “My friend, are you lost? Svelti guided us here. He’s one of your fellow townspeople. We were hoping to make it through the mines to go to Yranto,” Corin said to the dwarf.

  He was unsure if the dwarf was some sort of guard or why exactly he was down there.

  “We are not lost,” the dwarf said, staring at Corin.

  Although Corin was sure the voice came from the dwarf, he could not see its mouth move. The dwarf continued staring at Corin.

  “We?” Corin asked.

  Beyond the dwarf, Corin could see more reflections off his torch appear. Some at the same height as the dwarf, others at Corin’s height, and some from the roof of the mine.

  Corin turned to look at the dwarf again. He stepped closer to Corin. He now saw more details about the dwarf. The dwarf’s beard was matted with blood. It was caked into the beard as if it had been there for a long time. Part of the dwarf’s arm was missing, and the stump was rotting, a jutting bone peeked. But even more troubling was the large hole in his chest. It was large enough that Corin could see the dwarf’s insides, which seemed hollow. It did not seem possible for anything to be alive in the condition that the dwarf was in.

  “What—” Livia gasped.

  The dwarf still approaching him, Corin quickly grabbed his blade and slashed at his neck. Corin severed most of his neck, and the dwarf fell.

  Behind the slain dwarf, the looming mass moved toward them. Countless reflecting eyes came at them from every single spot they could see ahead.

  “Run!” Simeon yelled.

  They started running the way they had come and came to a junction.

  “They are coming from there as well!” Nanaua shouted, pointing to the path they had just taken.

  “Let’s go this way!” Livia shouted, following a new path.

  “But the white circles—” Nanaua began.

  “Nanaua, now is not the time!” Zhi shouted as she grabbed her hand.

  The group ran behind Livia down the unmarked shaft. Livia led at the front, followed by Simeon, Nanaua, Zhi, and Corin.

  The horde quickly reacted to their deviation. Behind them, Corin saw the two incoming streams clashing against each other as he and the others ran down the unmarked path. As Corin turned away from the horde, he heard angry snarls and growls behind them. The horde had found prey and wanted to feast.

  They all ran as fast as they could. Zhi moved with a speed that Corin had never seen. But despite their best efforts, Corin could hear the creatures getting closer. Corin turned his head to look at the oncoming creatures.

  One of the creatures crawled on the ceiling at a furious pace. It was a large reptilian humanoid with white eyes and thick black scaly skin. The creature was focused on Corin, its nearest target, and once it was close enough, it lunged.

  Corin reacted, turning around, and holding his blade straight out. The creature was skewered by the blade, but knocked Corin down. On the ground, Corin tossed the dead creature aside.

  Beyond, two dwarves stumbled over each other as they attempted to get to Corin, who stabbed through both of them. He pulled out his blade and continued running after the group.

  Looking back, Corin saw the reptilian creature begin to stir. Within moments, it was up again and had climbed on the ceiling. On the floor, the two dwarves untangled themselves and began to rise up again. Behind the risen creatures, more hordes flooded into the mineshaft.

  “They keep coming!” Corin shouted.

  The reptilian once again caught up to Corin and lunged at him. It did not matter that mere moments ago it had done the same thing. Corin once again impaled the creature and threw it to the side, but it was moving within moments. Corin did not bother to see it climb the ceiling again and continued running.

  The hordes kept closing the distance between Corin and the rest of the group. Now Corin saw several reptilian creatures hurrying toward them. Within moments, they would be overtaken.

  Corin saw three arrows fly one after the other. Each of them struck their targets, causing the reptilians to fall to the ground. But the reptilians were merely delayed; within moments they were back on the ceiling.

  “They do not die!” Simeon shouted.

  “I know!” Corin groaned.

  Zhi stepped up now. A large bolt of lightning shot forth from her, and a blinding flash appeared where the reptilians had been. Corin saw three smoldering bodies fall to the ground. This time they stopped, but their corpses served as mere obstacles that were quickly overcome by the hordes that followed.

  Corin saw no end to them. “It’s useless! There’s too many! We have to keep moving!”

  “We can’t outrun them!” Zhi shouted back.

  Now she stopped. She stood her ground and began chanting. The hordes saw their new prey and screamed in anger. Their shouts pierced their ears.

  “I need your help! Protect me!” Zhi shouted.

  Corin, Simeon, Nanaua, and Livia all stood next to her. They did not know what she was planning but knew they had no other choice.

  Arrows flew, and the creatures fell for mere moments before getting up again. Shots flew from Livia and Corin. Two shots from Corin hit two of the reptilians, and they fell to the ground. One of them stopped, while the other was back on the wall quickly. Livia was more accurate in her shots. Each of her targets fell and did not stand up. But where one fell, two more would take its place. Nanaua cut down those that made it through.

  She cleaved a dwarf in half, cleanly slicing his torso from his legs. His upper half fell to the ground, no blood gushing from his wound. Despite his injury, the dwarf still crawled to them. Nanaua crushed his head, and finally he stopped.

  “The head!” Nanaua shouted.

  Corin saw a dwarf with only half his upper body, missing his right arm and a large portion of his torso, drag itself to him. Corin thrust his blade into the dwarf’s head; it went through easier than he expected. His blade slid out from the rotted head, and the dwarf fell dead finally.

  Simeon shot several more in the head. Despite the number of corpses that piled up around them, the horde was not hampered. They only continued their furious advance. Death did not deter them. Nothing would.

  Zhi shouted and the ground beneath them shook. Loose rocks began to fall around them.

  “Stay close to me!” Zhi shouted.

  At a distance, the falling rocks were much larger. These boulders rained down on the approaching horde, crushing them as it collapsed and blocked the mineshaft. A rock larger than Nanaua fell onto a dwarf, completely crushing him and spraying his body parts around. As the mineshaft collapsed, the creatures that evaded the rocks continued toward them.

  A half-rotted dwarf jumped at Zhi. Nanaua’s pike caught him midair and threw him to the ground. She crushed its head with her pike. Another ran up to Corin, who quickly reacted by slicing his head clean off.

  The tunnel finally collapsed, and no more of the herd came through. A lone reptilian crawled toward them, only one arm helping it move. Nanaua went up to it and crushed its head under her heel.

  Zhi collapsed on to the ground. Livia caught her. “Are you all right?”

  “I’ll be fine,” she said.

  Simeon paced back and forth, exasperated. His tail fluttered about. He was thinking.

  Nanaua went and relieved Livia, holding Zhi and helping her up.

  “We have no choice but to press on,” Corin said, looking beyond the group to the shaft that extended beyond them.

  Simeon still paced, thinking, his tail fluttering.

  “Simeon,” Corin said.

  The ape-man continued. “Simeon!” He now yelled.

  “We have to continue,” Corin said. He looked toward the collapsed mine shaft. “We have no other choice.”

  “Right, right,” Simeon muttered, trying to calm himself. “Ahead.”